Heat blow lead, find way to finish off Bulls 94-91

MIAMI — This was everything the Miami Heat could have hoped for . . . for the first 5 minutes, 25 seconds.

Then it became work, hard work, grueling work, stressful work, the type of effort they knew going into this series would be required against Tom Thibodeau's shorthanded-but-feisty Chicago Bulls.

So after going up 18 at that early juncture and then down 11 in the third quarter, the Heat finally found a way to close out the Eastern Conference semifinal series 4-1 with a 94-91 victory Wednesday night at AmericanAirlines Arena.

Barely . . . the game ending amid a frenzied Bulls bid for a tying 3-pointer, with Jimmy Butler and Nate Robinson off with their attempts from beyond the arc.

"When you play the Chicago Bulls, you wouldn't expect any finish to be any different and anything less than that," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "We knew right from the beginning of the series that we were going to have to earn everything we got."

Instead of returning to Chicago for a Friday Game 6, the Heat will be off until at least Monday, the earliest possible start date of an Eastern Conference final series against either the Indiana Pacers or New York Knicks, with Indiana leading that series 3-1 heading into Thursday's Game 5 in New York.

"We can expect that it only gets more difficult and more challenging," Spoelstra said.

In a laughter that became a near disaster, the Heat found a way behind 23 points from LeBron James, 18 from Dwyane Wade in a sharp bounce back from his knee issues, 12 from Chris Bosh and a late bench spark provided by Norris Cole and Shane Battier.

"It was very challenging," James said, "to be up like we were and then to be down like we were in second half. Mentally, we had to not get too high, not get too low in the whole game.

"Emotionally, this game took a lot out of both teams."

It also took something physically out of Wade, who had to get his chronically troublesome right knee re-taped between the third and fourth quarters.

"I wanted it tight," he said trip back to the locker room. "I didn't go back because it wasn't feeling good."

That Wade stepped up late hardly was a surprise to Bosh.

"He was just waiting, waiting, watching," Bosh said of Wade's strong finish. "And he saw the opportunity and he seized it, he really grabbed it by the throat."

Ultimately, there was enough to offset 26 points and 14 rebounds from Carlos Boozer, 21 points from Robinson, 19 from Butler and 15 from Richard Hamilton.

"In the fourth quarter we were able to change the momentum and finally turn the corner," Spoelstra said.

As much as anything, the Bulls, who got past the Brooklyn Nets in seven games in the opening round merely expired, playing the entire Heat series without ailing Luol Deng, Kirk Hinrich and Derrick Rose.

"We have a bigger goal, so it has to be no mercy," Spoelstra said. "But we all know they've gone though a great deal of adversity."

And still, the Bulls made the Heat sweat until the closing buzzer, the Heat winning the final four games after dropping the series opener, now 45-3 in their last 48 games dating to their 27-game winning streak at midseason.

"I knew that we would fight back, that we wouldn't go away," Thibodeau said. "You've got to give them a lot of credit, they're a great team, a great team.

"They're not going to beat themselves."

Dormant after their dominant start, the Heat finally put a sustained burst together after going into the fourth quarter down 77-69, previously down 11 in the third.

First, Battier converted a 3-pointer after missing his first four such attempts of the night to draw the Heat within 77-72. Then Cole hit center Chris Andersen for an alley-oop dunk in transition, only the Heat's fifth and six fastbreak points to that stage, to trim the Heat's deficit to 77-74.

After a Taj Gibson basket for the Bulls, Battier followed with his second consecutive 3-pointer to draw the Heat within 79-77.

Later, Battier was fouled attempting his next 3-pointer, but made only two free throws, leaving the Heat down 81-79.

Cole then stepped up with a jumper to put the Heat up 82-81 with 6:48 to play, the Heat's first lead since 4:49 left in second quarter.

Moments later, a Cole dunk gave the Heat an 84-83 lead. Wade then followed with a pair of runners in the lane to provide breathing room.

But Robinson came back with a 3-pointer with 1:43 left to draw Chicago within 94-91, the Heat surviving a wild sequence as the Bulls tried to go for the tie before the buzzer, frantically swinging the ball around the arc and chasing down the misses by Butler and Robinson.

"We've built championship habits all season," Cole said, "and this is the time to show it."